“Nothing will work unless you do”
I saw this quote from the wonderful Maya Angelou on a post recently and it went onto replay in my head.
The more times it replayed, the more I could see it in a different light….and one that relates to your health and fitness too.
Reason #1 – are you trying hard enough?
On first read, you’d be inclined to think it refers to the amount of effort you put into a venture, activity, job or project.
A bit like the ‘you get out what you put in’ approach….and it’s true, to get what you really want you either have to be extremely lucky (I’m not!) or work exceptionally hard for it.
The same can be said for those physiques of women in health magazines (photoshopped or not) or fitness competitors. They focus entirely on their nutrition, on their training and on their self-care. It requires a level of selfishness and endless dedication.
Whilst many would dearly love to look like those cover girls, we usually don’t have the time, support system or dedication to achieve it. We have to make a choice (and that’s a whole other article coming soon!).
It still remains true though that if we wish to ‘slim down’ or ‘tone up’ we have to work for it.
Some will claim that is what they want to do but rather than work for it, they continually seize every quick fix, fad diet or supposedly magic solution that comes on to the market.
It’s fair to say that this traps you in an endless cycle of diets and extreme workouts that fails to deliver sustainable change and a realistic integration into your lifestyle. A clear reason why your diet isn’t working!
Being healthy, maintaining a physique that optimises your health, happiness and fitness requires a certain amount of effort – if you don’t work at it, it won’t work for you….so we’ve come back to that original saying:
“Nothing will work unless you do”
Reason #2 – you’re missing something in your approach
Let’s look at it in a different way.
What if it’s saying that if you are not ‘working’ – that is, if your health, happiness or fitness is in someway compromised at the moment – then nothing will work for You.
This is about understanding and admitting where you are now.
It is also about choosing (there’s that choice word again!) a route that will support where you are starting from and allow you to address those health, happiness and fitness issues from the outset.
Health is not a one-size fits all accessory.
What needs to work for You to achieve your health, happiness & fitness dreams?
Just because something worked for a friend, relative or ‘her at number 6’; doesn’t mean it’s right for you.
So what is right for you?
It depends.
It depends on where you’re starting from. It depends on what is holding you back, what has worked for you before, what hasn’t worked for you before, your emotional state, the stresses in your life, your relationship with food….and drink and so many other factors.
Instead of reaching for that quick fix, think about what feels right for you. What will help you deal with those issues that you keep tucking away in a dark corner somewhere?
Achieving what you want to achieve doesn’t, and probably cannot, be done overnight….or in 9 days or whatever other short time scale is promised.
In the video on marketed meal-replacement, shake-based schemes this last weekend I asked how long do you want to live? That’s how long your approach to health, happiness and fitness needs to last.
You need to be in it for the longhaul, and yes, some work will be required…..one step at a time.
And why do I keep referring to health, happiness and fitness?
Because I firmly believe they are strongly interrelated. Yes you can have one without the other two, or even two out of the three….but in my opinion working for three out of the three is the best long term solution….because nothing works unless you do.
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